Buying Term Insurance Plan? Here Are 20 Critical Things To Keep in Mind

28/05/2018 20 things to consider before buying term insurance - A complete Guide
Buying Term Insurance Plan? Here are 20 Critical

things to keep in mind
(https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2017/09/buy-term-insurance-checklist.html)
POSTED BY MANISH ON SEPTEMBER 20, 2017 COMMENTS (8)
If you are planning to buy a term insurance plan in coming weeks, then you are at the right place,
(https://www.jagoinvestor.com/financial-
because today I will share dozens of points which any term plan buyer should know before they buy
planning)
the cover.
So, if you have no idea of how does term insurance work, and if you have asked yourself – “Which
term plan should I buy?”, then you are at the right place today.
Most of the buyers who are new to term insurance plan do not understand various critical facts and
points which they should consider while they are buying the policy and because of that, I came up
with this check list which will help you.
(https://www.jagoinvestor.com/mutual-
Let look at each points in detail.
funds)
https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2017/09/buy-term-insurance-checklist.html 1/22
planning)
1. Earlier you buy term insurance plan, better it is

funds)
There is no minimum or maximum age for term insurance. Earlier you purchase the policy better it
is.
Do not be very late because as time passes, your premium amount will also increase depending on
your age and also if you develop any illness or disease, it will get tougher to get the policy later. So
once you are clear that you require a certain amount of life cover, go ahead and complete the action
within few months.
2. Buy the term insurance policy only till your retirement

age
Till what age should you buy a term plan? Should a 30 yrs old guy buy a term plan upto 80 yrs? The
answer is NO.
You should not buy it for the longest tenure possible because you only need life insurance policy till
your retirement (https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2013/04/why-you-should-not-take-term-
insurance-till-75-yrs.html)and not beyond that. This is because not many family members will be
financially dependent on you beyond your retirement age.
When we are young, we have more financial responsibilities, and hence it makes sense to take a big
cover. But as our age increases, our assets will grow and at the same time we will be moving towards
the retirement age, at which point we no longer remain provider for our families.
3. Don’tplanning)
get mislead by “per day premium” marketing
gimmick
A lot of insurance companies have started to advertise their term insurance plans by sharing the cost
per day basis, like for example – “Buy 1 crore term plan just for Rs 25/day”. However note that these
numbers might be applicable only for a certain age group and tenure of policy.
Like it might happen that the advertised premium per day is only for the clients around 25 yrs and
for a policy of 40 yrs.
funds)
You case will be different and the premiums might differ for you, so don’t get trapped by the lure of
cheaper premiums.
4. Don’t buy single premium policies

At times, you have to choose between single premiums vs. regular premium while purchasing life
insurance policy. A lot of people think that just because they can afford to pay a onetime premium, it
makes sense, but it’s not true.
Other than some cases, it does not make much sense to pay one time premium (single premium)
planning)
while buying term plan. The best option which will work for most people is the yearly premium. So if
your agent is trying to explain you how a onetime payment will help you save the cost, run away and
don’t fall for it.
5. Take increase in premiums in a positive manner

This is a big one which is critical to understand.
When you buy a term plan (or even health insurance), sometimes your premiums can increase after
your medicalsfunds)
are done and you may be asked to pay an extra premium. This increase in premium is
due to health issues and it’s very valid to ask you to pay this extra premium.
Most of the buyers are very critical of the premium increase and choose to not move ahead or post
pone their decision of buying the plan.
However you should understand that the premiums increase is natural thing to happen if you are of
the high risk category (like smoker, alcoholic or if some past illness). It’s actually a good thing that
the company is beforehand checking the facts and still offering you the plan, though at a little high
premium which is very fair from their point of view.
If you are still not clear on this, you should learn how insurance companies work
(https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2013/05/how-insurance-companies-work-and-the-business-
model-behind.html) and what is their model?
At that point, rather than postponing the decision, the best thing is to go ahead and buy the policy.
6. Don’t get over excited by term insurance riders

“Riders” are great add on with a term insurance plan, but only if you really require them or if they
are specific to your case. Don’t add them just because it’s available and gives you a sense of more
security. I mean if you do lot of travel and are most of the times in your case, the risk of dying in an
accident is higher for you, so in that case you can add accidental rider. Here are various types of
term plan riders (https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2012/02/life-insurance-riders.html)
Accidental Death Rider

Permanent & Partial Disability
planning)
Critical Illness
Waiver of Premium
Income Benefit Rider
In the same way, if you feel that you want to cover the risk of some critical illness in future and don’t
want to buy a separate policy, then you can add critical cover. But don’t add any term insurance
riders for the sake of it.
7. Buy the basic version of the term insurance plan
funds)
A term plan comes into various flavors now a days. The most basic one is the one which pays you a
lump sum on death. However there are other variations now which also gives you income for 10/20
yrs along with the main cover, or pays only the income for next 10/20 yrs and a small lump sum at
the time of claim.
I think one should just choose the base policy in most of the cases. Most of the other options are
designed for very specific situations and they are not “better” or “bad” compared to the base policy.
To check this, you can go to any term insurance premium calculator and find out the premium with
rider and without rider.
8. Tell them if you are smoker/alcoholic

One of the worst things you can do while purchasing any life insurance plan is to hide the fact that
you are a smoker or consume alcohol. Please don’t hide it. There is nothing like a best term
insurance plan for smokers in India at the moment.
Your premium calculation happens based on these critical information and if you hide these facts,
then you are actually breaching the contract with the company and almost always your claim will be
rejected at the end. Also don’t think that just because you smoke just once in a while does not make
you a non-smoker.
Below is some data from economic times (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-

finance/insurance/analysis/hiding-vital-facts-while-buying-insurance-claims-may-be-
rejected/articleshow/msid-16888651,curpg-2.cms?from=mdr) on the rising number of claim
rejections because of hiding of information.
planning)
funds)
If you smoke (even though every less number of times), you are a smoker in the eyes of life insurance
company. Same is the case with those who take alcohol.
Make sure you fill your own form, because there have been cases, when an agent just mentions the
policy holder as non smoker or non-alcoholic to make sure the policy is easily issued.
9. Don’t hide your health information
Another grave mistake done by policy buyers is to hide any critical health information while
purchasing the policy. If you have any health issues, or have gone through any major
operations/surgeries then you should clearly communicate that to insurance company. One of the
reasons for term insurance claim rejection (https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2015/12/no-claim-
rejection-in-life-insurance-policy-after-3-yrs.html) is hiding of important facts while purchasing the
policy.
Please don’t wait for the insurance form to ask you the exact details.
An insurance policy is actually a proposal from your end in the eyes of law where you have to
planning)
disclose all the facts and the company will accept your case or reject it. So onus of providing all
information is on you.
10. Don’t hide your family health history

Even your family health history matters. If your parents or siblings have some illness, then even that
should be shared by you. Please don’t hide it because even that information impacts your premium.
Many people think that just because their parents had diabetes, it does not matter at all. That’s not
true.
funds)
11. Don’t take small insurance cover (like 10-20 lacs)

Do you know that the average sum assured per India is in the range of Rs 90,000 to 1 lac only.
Indians on an average are highly uninsured, however that’s mostly true for those who do not have
term plan. But even those who have term plan try to cut the corners and eventually take less term
insurance cover.
The most favorite number now a days is Rs 1 crore. I see most of the people just taking a 1 crore term
insurance plan thinking that it’s the right number. No it’s not the case.
planning)
funds)
With the rising costs and lots of aspirations, Rs 1 crore might not be enough for most of the families
for all their life. I suggest you should take a good enough cover which gives you enough peace of
mind.
Make sure you add up all your liabilities, 300 times of your monthly expenses and some more
amount which can help your family reach your other financial goals and take at least that much
cover.
If your life insurance requirement is Rs 1.3 crore, better than a 1.5 crore and not 1 crore.
12. Don’t overanalyze and delay your decision

Do you see that ad these days on TV where a lady shouts on her dead husband for forgetting to buy
the life insurance even though they had decided to take it
“Kya , tum term insurance lena bhul gaye, ab ghar ka kharcha kaise chalega”?
One of the biggest issues with most of the potential policy buyers is that they want to buy the best
term insurance policy and don’t want to make any mistake. They are aware that they need a life
cover, they also start searching for the policy, do the term insurance comparison, but then start to
over analyze the policy, its features, the premium comparison and what no..
Finally, they just don’t take any decision because of the analysis paralysis. They post pone the
decision and think that they will “soon” buy it.
Don’t do this
planning)
But a decent term plan asap. Do some study, but don’t get into that zone where you are just stuck
because of small points. It’s better to have a good term cover with any company, rather than having
no cover trying to search for the best company.
13. Don’t forget adding nominee name

While filling the insurance form, make sure you carefully put the nominee name
(https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2010/10/will-your-nominee-get-the-money-on-your-death.html).
But who can be a nominee in insurance? Ideally it should be wife, children or someone whom you
want to pass the term plan money. But try to avoid very old people as the nominee (in general).
funds)
Also make sure you mention this fact in your WILL too, or if you are not going to create a WILL right
now, you can take the life insurance policy under MWP act
(https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2017/07/life-insurance-mwp-act.html), so that your nominee will
be the final person (it can only be wife and kids if you add MWP) who gets the money.
If you have bought the term plan long back and now your preference has changed, it’s better to
change the nominee name.
14. Don’t take more than 1-2 policy

You should ideally have 1 term plan policy in your life insurance portfolio, the max can be 2 policies.
But nothing more than that.
I have seen some people dividing their 2 crore of cover into 4 policies of 50 lacs each with 4 different
companies and it’s a little bit of stretch. In almost all the cases, 1 single policy of a big amount is
good enough.
However if you still feel that you want to break it into two policies, that’s the maximum you should
do. Also some people who are buying another term plan after couple of years should not note this
point that they should eventually not have more than 2 policies.
15. Disclose old insurance policy

planning)
When you buy any life insurance policy, it’s mandatory as per their rules to disclose the old
insurance policy (https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2012/04/not-disclosing-old-policies-leads-to-
claim-rejection.html) you already have. In most of the cases, when people buy a term plan for the
first time, they already have couple of traditional insurance plans, but they fail to declare that.
I suggest you don’t do that, because as per life insurance policies, a company should know how much
cover you already have and only based on that they will offer you additional cover.
funds)
planning)
funds)
If you have already bought a term plan without mentioning your old policies, you should reach the
customer care of your term plan company and share with them about your old policies.
16. Be open to try online brokers

There are various online brokers now a days like Coverfox or Policybazaar which are building a long
term business in the insurance space and provide various extra benefits to their customers like fast
service, claim settlement assistance without you (customer) incurring extra cost, because they get
compensated by the insurer (without putting any additional cost on your pocket).
The premium for you is same if you buy it from company directly only or through these brokers.
These brokers give you various options to choose from and help you buy the policy which you want.
You can approach these brokers if you really feel they will add value to your transaction. I am not
saying that online brokers are the only way to buy. If you are very critical of them or are old
fashioned, then you can directly reach to company or your neighborhood broker.
Click here to enquire for the term plan quotes (https://bit.ly/term_jago_article_link) and buy it
from Coverfox (our Trusted Partner in Insurance)
17. Check the policy papers once you get it

One of the things which you should immediately do after receiving the policy is to check all the fine
points and the copy of your medical examination. Now a days , the policy papers have your medical
records.
Kindly go through each point and make sure things like you age, name, blood group, address and
planning)
other important things are mentioned correctly.
There have been cases, where the information has been wrong. If things are wrong, you can reach
out to their company customer care to get it corrected.
18. Don’t fall for “10 times of Income” marketing

Almost all the call center marketing people try to sell you the cover equal to 10 times of your yearly
income. This often is a very simplified way of finding your life insurance coverage.
funds)
A better way to find out your coverage is to find out 300 times of your monthly expenses and add up
your outstanding liabilities to it. At the end you can include 30-40 lacs more into the final number to
take care of your other financial goals in future like kids education etc.
For example a guy with monthly expenses of Rs 50,000 per month and with 60 lacs of outstanding
loan will need 300 x 50,0000 + 60 lacs = 2.1 crore at the minimum. So he can take 2.5 crore term
plan for himself.
However much life insurance you should take is a function of your expenses and liabilities and not
your income. What if a person earns 6 lacs a month, but a modest Rs 50,000 a month expenses with
no liability?’
planning)
The “10 times of your income” marketing will say that he should buy a 6 crore term plan, where as
his right number would be in range of 1.5 to 2 crore only.
19. Choose
funds)a strong and good brand while choosing Insurer
There are 24 life insurance companies in India

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_insurance_companies_in_India) (year 2017) right now. Do
you think each of them are equal in terms of surviving, claim settlement experience (not ratio),
dealing with clients, depth of medical examinations , integrity in conducting business and what not?
Here is the list all the life insurance companies in India as of 2017.
AEGON Life Insurance

Aviva Life Insurance
Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance
Bharti AXA Life Insurance
Birla Sun Life Insurance
Canara HSBC OBC Life Insurance
DHFL Pramerica Life Insurance
Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance

Exide Life Insurance
Future Generali India Life Insurance
HDFC Standard Life Insurance
ICICI Prudential Life Insurance
IDBI Federal Life Insurance
IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Ltd – India First
Kotak Life Insurance
planning)Corporation of India (LIC)
Life Insurance
Max Newyork Life Insurance
PNB MetLife Insurance
Reliance Life Insurance
Sahara Life Insurance
SBI Life Insurance
Shriram Life Insurance
Star Union Dai-ichi Life Insurance
Tata AIAfunds)
Life Insurance
When you choose a life insurance company, you should make sure you choose the one which has
strong presence, along with a good brand (not the biggest). Read reviews online and check their data
and read about them.
20. Communicate to your family that you bought a term

plan
You should share about buying the term plan with your family immediately along with the policy
papers and the contact number of the insurer.
You can also write down the claim process on paper and keep that at a safe location and share with
family. I know it’s not an easy conversation to do even though it’s a logical thing to do. But at least
communicate to your family about the important things they should be aware about.
Steps to follow while buying the term insurance plan online

Understand your requirement first, find out how much insurance cover you are looking for
Go to various term insurance premium calculators on web, and see what is the premium
amount
If the premium is within your budget, then apply for the term plan
Make the initial premium payment and start the documentation
Medicals will be arranged for you by the term plan company which you should complete on
time
Once everything is fine, your policy will be issued.
planning)
Let us know if you still have any queries?
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8 replies on this article “Buying Term Insurance Plan? Here are 20 Critical things to keep in mind”
planning)
funds)
Binu M says:
October 7, 2017 at 3:57 pm (https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2017/09/buy-term-insurance-
checklist.html#comment-372130)
Hi Manish,
Thanks for this nice article.
I am working in a private company and the company provide death coverage (10 times the annual
income) to all of its employees. As I am working in a private company, I would like to take an
additional term plan. Do I need to disclose the company provided coverage when taking the term
plan. planning)
Reply
Manish Chauhan (https://www.jagoinvestor.com/author) says:
October 11, 2017 at 1:09 pm (https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2017/09/buy-term-
insurance-checklist.html#comment-372235)
No, you dont need to share details about the company plan, because you are not
paying the premium yourself.
However I suggest talk to our team once on this and we can also help you figure
our the right term plan and facilitate you on this.
funds)
Please schedule a call with us here – https://www.jagoinvestor.com/pro#schedule-

call (https://www.jagoinvestor.com/pro#schedule-call)
Reply
Suresh (https://valueinvesting-wealthvidya.blogspot.in/p/value-investing.html) says:

September 29, 2017 at 8:06 am (https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2017/09/buy-term-insurance-
A nice, informative article.
Reply
Jagoinvestor Admin says:
September 29, 2017 at 10:25 am (https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2017/09/buy-term-
Thanks Suresh
Reply
Kaustubh (https://www.knowledgebanker.com/really-insured-important/) says:

September 28, 2017 at 7:29 pm (https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2017/09/buy-term-insurance-
Hey, Very useful article!
Thanks for sharing!
Reply
planning)
Thanks for your comment Kaustubh
Reply
karamjit kaur (https://www.emetechnologies.com) says:

September 27, 2017 at 1:15 pm (https://www.jagoinvestor.com/2017/09/buy-term-insurance-
funds)
A better way to find out your coverage is to find out 300 times of your monthly expenses and add up
your outstanding liabilities to it. At the end you can include 30-40 lacs more into the final number to
take care of your other financial goals in future like kids education etc.
Reply
Thanks for sharing that karamjit kaur
Reply
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28/05/2018 20 things to consider before buying term insurance - A complete Guide

Buying Term Insurance Plan? Here are 20 Critical

1. Earlier you buy term insurance plan, better it is

2. Buy the term insurance policy only till your retirement

4. Don’t buy single premium policies

5. Take increase in premiums in a positive manner

6. Don’t get over excited by term insurance riders

Accidental Death Rider

8. Tell them if you are smoker/alcoholic

Below is some data from economic times (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/personal-

9. Don’t hide your health information

10. Don’t hide your family health history

11. Don’t take small insurance cover (like 10-20 lacs)

12. Don’t overanalyze and delay your decision

13. Don’t forget adding nominee name

14. Don’t take more than 1-2 policy

15. Disclose old insurance policy

16. Be open to try online brokers

17. Check the policy papers once you get it

18. Don’t fall for “10 times of Income” marketing

There are 24 life insurance companies in India

AEGON Life Insurance

Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance

20. Communicate to your family that you bought a term

Steps to follow while buying the term insurance plan online

Invest in Mutual Funds Financial Planning Service

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

Please schedule a call with us here – https://www.jagoinvestor.com/pro#schedule-

Suresh (https://valueinvesting-wealthvidya.blogspot.in/p/value-investing.html) says:

Kaustubh (https://www.knowledgebanker.com/really-insured-important/) says:

karamjit kaur (https://www.emetechnologies.com) says:

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